Pa. official: Gas drilling adds to strain on firefighting resources

Increase in numbers, training urged

Apr. 25, 2011

Written by

Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The gas-drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale is highlighting Pennsylvania's need for more firefighters and for special training on how to respond to gas well blowouts, the state's fire commissioner says.

Commissioner Edward Mann told members of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission in Harrisburg earlier this month that Pennsylvania now has about 50,000 volunteer firefighters, about one-sixth what it had 30 years ago. Companies are under significant financial strain in boom areas whose population is growing, Mann said.

"The chicken barbecues don't work very well anymore," he said.

Mann asked the commission to recommend ways to help underwrite special training for volunteers, the Daily Review of Towanda reported. One issue is the future of Marcellus training sessions at the state fire academy in Lewiston. Academy training focuses on basic safety precautions, but Mann wants to expand the scope of training to include an initial response to gas well blowouts.

Through a $216,000 agreement with the academy, about 2,700 volunteers have undergone voluntary training paid for by the natural gas industry. But the academy agreement expires at the end of June, Mann said, and the remaining funds will run out by the end of the year.

There also is a need for better radio communication among emergency responders in rural boom areas, according to David Sanko, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors.